CloverWorks is a fairly newanimestudio in the grand scheme of things. The studio was founded as a subsidiary of the much larger studio A-1 Pictures in 2018, although later that same year, they separated from A-1 Pictures to become their own studio while remaining a subsidiary of Aniplex.
With only seven years of history to its name, CloverWorks doesn’t have nearly the same level of history as other major anime studios like Toei Animation, MAPPA, and especially notA-1 Pictures, from which it originally spawned. However, the studio has quickly made a name for itself for the large number of projects it tackles and the gorgeous quality with which they’re made, soCloverWorks, despite how new they are, already stands as one of the best anime studios around. A CloverWorks project is almost always the source of incredible hype, and a few of their projects perfectly illustrate why.
2018’sPersona 5: The Animationis, as the name implies, an anime adaptation of the hit JRPGPersona 5. Just like with the game, the anime sees Ren Amamiya and his friends obtain the power of Personas and become the Phantom Thieves to forcibly change the cognition of the powerful adults ruining society for personal gain, all of which ends up playing into a massive conspiracy that only gets bigger with each reveal.
Persona 5: The Animationfalls short of its predecessors for its poor pacing, inconsistent visuals, and lackluster characterization of Ren, but at the same time,Persona 5: The Animationcan still be fun to watch for the few moments where it does add something fun to the original story. As one of CloverWorks’ first projects, it makes sense for it to be one of their weakest, but fortunately, even their weakest works aren’t without merit.
2019’sThe Promised Neverlandrevolves around the Grace Field House, an orphanage where the children have been trained to be hyper-intelligent since infancy for unknown reasons. One day, one of the children, Emma, discovers that it’s because they’re secretly being raised as food for demons, with smart humans tasting the best, and now Emma and her friends must find a way to break out before they’re all eaten alive.
The Promised Neverlandstands out from otherShonen Jumpstories for its unique premise and its focus on mind games, and sure enough,The Promised Neverlanddoes a largely great job of bringing the manga to life with its stellar animation and direction.The Promised Neverlandseason 2suffered an infamous drop in quality, but fortunately, season 1 can still work as something as a standalone story anyone can enjoy.
Directed By Atsushi Nishigori
Darling in the Franxx
Darling in the Franxxtakes place in a dystopian future where humanity faces extinction from deadly monsters called klaxosaurs. To combat the klaxosaurs, children are raised from birth to pilot giant robots called Franxx, and when Hiro is paired with the half-klaxosaur pilot Zero Two, he’ll be the first of his friends to see a world beyond fighting monsters.
2018’sDarling in the Franxxtakes place in a dystopian future where humanity faces extinction from deadly monsters called klaxosaurs. To combat the klaxosaurs, children are raised from birth to pilot giant robots called Franxx, and when Hiro is paired with the half-klaxosaur pilot Zero Two, he’ll be the first of his friends to see a world beyond fighting monsters.
Despite having the hype of being a Studio Trigger co-production,Darling in the Franxxis largely disliked for having a messy narrative and an unsatisfying conclusion, and it’s hard to argue with those points. However,Darling in the Franxxis still fun to watch because of how much fun it draws from its messy romance narrative, and with the gorgeous visuals accompanying it, that point stands clear at every turn.
2019’sFate/Grand Order — Absolute Demonic Front: Babyloniais an adaptation of the penultimate arc ofFate/Grand Order’s first half. With six Singularities cleared, Ritsuka Fujimaru and the rest of Chaldea are ready to tackle the final Singularity in ancient Babylon, and sure enough, it proves to be their most dangerous challenge yet.
As an adaptation of an arc thatFate/Grand Ordertook years to get to,Babyloniais somewhat hard for those unfamiliar with the game to understand, but overall,Fate/Grand Order — Absolute Demonic Front: Babyloniaexcellently brings one of the game’s biggest highlights to life with its strong writing and animation.Fateanime are best associated with Ufotable, but if anything,Babyloniashows that CloverWorks has a great handling of the franchise, as well.
The Elusive Samurai
Cast
The Elusive Samurai is set during the Kenmu Restoration between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. It follows Hojo Tokiyuki, a young boy whose family is overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji. Accompanied by a priest and his followers, he seeks revenge using his extraordinary abilities to evade capture.
2024’sThe Elusive Samuraiis a historical fantasy loosely adapting the life of legendary samurai Hojo Tokiyuki. After the Hojo clan is deposed by Ashikaga Takauji and the forces of the Emperor, Tokiyuki must gather together what few allies he has left to slowly amass power so he can avenge his family and reclaim his rightful place as the ruler of Japan.
Series creator Yusei Matsui is most famous for creatingAssassination Classroom, and everything great about that is present inThe Elusive Samurai, asThe Elusive Samuraidoes a perfect job of making such an obscure point in history engaging through its hilarious, heartwarming, and clever writing, all while being coupled with some of the most gorgeous visuals in modern anime. It’s a criminally underrated series, but withThe Elusive Samuraiseason 2 in development, it has plenty of time to get the respect it deserves.
Wind Breaker
Wind Breaker focuses on the troubled delinquents of Furin High School, who despite poor academic performances, passionately defend their town. The arrival of a competitive newcomer disrupts the existing power dynamics, challenging the students' resolve and unity.
2024’sWind Breakerstars Haruka Sakura, a kindhearted delinquent who’s spent his whole life being ostracized for his heterochromia and seeks to prove himself by becoming the top fighter at the legendary delinquent-filled school Furin High. As it turns out, though, the delinquents of Furin High are just as kindhearted as Sakura and protect their town from anyone who tries causing trouble, and by joining with them, Sakura finally finds a place where he can belong.
Wind Breakerdoesn’t have the most depth to its writing, but that doesn’t matter too much when Sakura and the larger cast are so consistently fun to watch. More importantly,Wind Breakerhas some of the most gorgeous fight animation of any anime in recent years, all of which is perfectly complemented by its stellar direction, and it all comes together for an action story that excels both visually and narratively at every turn.
2018’sRascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpaiopens with protagonist Sakuta Azusagawa encountering a girl dressed like a Playboy bunny named Mai Sakurajima, whom only he seems to notice. This is due to Mai suffering from Adolescence Syndrome, a mysterious phenomenon where a young person’s emotional problems cause supernatural events to occur, and the anime quickly becomes an episodic showing of Sakuta and Mai dealing with one new case after another.
Despite the bizarre nature of its story,Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpaialways does a great job of selling itself on clever dialogue and surprisingly thoughtful character arcs, all while maintaining a consistently great art style from start to finish.The summer 2025 anime seasonfinally saw the series return to television withRascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus, and hopefully, it will be just as fun to watch, if not more so.
2022’sSpy x Familytakes place in a fictional Cold War setting and stars Twilight, a secret agent tasked with starting a family to get close to someone who could disrupt the delicate peace between the nations of Westalis and Ostania. The people he chooses as his wife and daughter, however, are an assassin and a telepath, respectively, and the daughter, Anya, is the only one of the three ever aware of what everyone is truly up to.
Spy X Familyis made in collaboration between CloverWorks and Wit Studio.
Spy x Familyhas long since made a name for itself for its incredible comedy and surprisingly heartfelt writing surrounding the Forgers and other characters, and CloverWorks’ always amazing animation only serves to make that even better at every turn. It’s one of the biggest stories to come out of theShonen Jumplabel, by far, and onceSpy x Familyseason 3comes out, it’s only going to get bigger.
2022’sMy Dress-Up Darlingstars Wakana Gojo, a boy whose secret hobby of making dolls is discovered one day by the beautiful and popular Marin Kitagawa. Instead of making fun of him as other people have, however, Marin gets Gojo to make her costumes for her cosplaying hobby, thus sparking a new friendship between the two that slowly develops into something more.
Between its gorgeous and detailed animation, how surprisingly informative the series is about cosplay and anime culture, and how fun the romance plot between the two leads is,My Dress-Up Darlingis one of the best modern anime romcoms for how much it excels visually and narratively.My Dress-Up Darlingseason 2was voted as the most-anticipated anime of summer 2025 by multiple media outlets, and overall, it’s easy to see why.
2022’sBocchi the Rock!stars Hitori Gotoh, a girl with crippling social anxiety who’s suddenly recruited to be the new guitarist in the band Kessoku Band. Now, as Hitori—now with the nickname Bocchi—commits herself to the band, she’ll find herself slowly but surely gaining the exact life she hoped for.
In addition to having some of the most gorgeous and creative visuals in modern anime,Bocchi the Rock!’s great comedy, combined with its surprisingly heartfelt narrative about social anxiety, always makes it fun to watch. WithBocchi the Rock!season 2 officially in development, the series is only going to get bigger from here, and once it does, there will be no denyingBocchi the Rock!as the best CloverWorks anime, by far.
